07/03/2014

CDU Chairman of the Parliamentary Group in Baden-Württemberg Gets First Hand Information About Pumped Storage Technology at Voith

During a visit at the headquarters of Voith Hydro in Heidenheim yesterday, the chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament, Peter Hauk (MdL), spoke out in favor of pumped storage power plants as important short-term storage facilities within the German energy transition. He emphasized how important it is to guarantee safe and secure energy supplies for medium size ("Mittelstand") companies in Germany and Baden-Württemberg.

The Management of Voith Hydro Heidenheim welcomed Peter Hauk yesterday at the research and development center of Voith Hydro "Brunnenmühle", in order to present the company to him and discuss the risks and opportunities of the energy transition in Germany.

The basis of the talk was a study carried out by Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH), which was commissioned by Voith. The study concludes that, within the context of the energy transition, pumped storage power plants are not only able to store excess electricity from renewable energy sources and make it available at short notice. With their extremely flexible operation they also make an essential contribution to the supply quality and, in addition, provide secured power.

"Safe and secure energy supplies are the basis for the further economic development of our country. In order to make the energy transition a success, we do not only need an expansion of regenerative energies but also of the networks. The further development of the storage facilities is equally important. This is a field where we should also utilize the know-how about pumped storage technology, which is available especially in Germany," said Peter Hauk.

Alongside their storage function, industrial-scale power storage systems also perform other important tasks within the electric grid and are, for example, able to offset the strong fluctuations of wind and solar energy. "As multi-function power plants, pumped storage power plants can make an essential contribution to the success of the energy transition," says Heike Bergmann, Member of the Board of Voith Hydro Heidenheim. "This role must nevertheless be taken into consideration in a new electricity market design." This means that operators of pumped storage power plants should be remunerated for the multiple services rendered by these large storage devices to ensure a stable power grid.